How we test and pick products

The short version: we do not test cues by hand. We compare retailer listings on their specifications and price, check those prices and links automatically, and order our lists by what readers buy. This page says exactly what that involves, so you can take our picks for what they are.

Where the products come from

Every product on this site is a live retailer listing. 40 are AliExpress listings, read through the retailer's affiliate product data (title, specifications, photos, price, commission rate). 80 are Amazon UK items, chosen from amazon.co.uk search results for snooker gear by rating count and by whether the item suits snooker rather than pool. Nothing is listed that cannot be bought today from one of those two retailers.

What we check on each listing

1. Specifications against our cue rules. For cues we read the tip size, length, weight and joint from the listing and compare them with the rules of thumb published in the cue size finder. Listings with pool-only tips (12 to 14mm and no snooker size) never appear as snooker picks. For accessories we read the specifications and description and note what the listing leaves out.
2. Price. AliExpress guide prices are checked every day against the retailer's price data; a product's guide price moves when the live price has moved by more than 3%. Prices were last refreshed on 28 October 2026. Amazon prices are never quoted on this site: Amazon's rules do not allow it and they change too often to be useful.
3. The link still works. Every AliExpress listing is checked weekly to confirm it can still be bought. A dead listing is replaced with a comparable live one and the product record says so. Amazon UK items are checked monthly from a UK delivery address and marked buyable, sold by other sellers only, or unavailable.
4. Order. Products are re-ranked weekly by the clicks real visitors made in the last 30 days; automated traffic is filtered out first. In the picks boxes on articles and the budget bands on the home page, otherwise similar items that pay us a higher commission can be listed first. We say so because leaving it out would be misleading.
5. "Our take". The "Our take" section on a product page is written from the listing's own facts by our copy tooling, which is instructed to use only what the listing states, to list the drawbacks, and to tell you what to check with the seller. It is edited when something changes. It is not a hands-on review, and it never invents a specification.

What we do not do

• We do not handle, measure or play with the products. There is no lab, no test table and no sample cupboard.
• We do not accept products, payment or discounts from makers or retailers for a listing or a position.
• We do not give our own star ratings. Where a rating appears on an Amazon UK item, it is Amazon's own figure, read when the item was added, and the page says how many ratings it rests on.
• We do not show a retailer a page before it goes live.

What "How we assessed this" means on a product page

Each product page carries a short block headed "How we assessed this". It lists what was checked for that product: the specification comparison, the date the guide price was last checked, the date the listing was last confirmed live (or the Amazon UK availability result), and where the "Our take" text comes from. The dates are written by the checks themselves, so a product that has not been checked yet says so.

Guides and technique articles

The buying guides use the same listing data as the product pages, and link the products they discuss. The technique and rules articles describe standard coaching methods and the official rules; they are written by the bestsnookercue team for club players and carry their published and updated dates. Reader questions sent through the contact page are the main source of new topics.

Corrections

Listings change under us. If a specification on a page is wrong, a price is far off, or a link lands somewhere it should not, tell us; we fix the record and the page rebuilds.

How we earn

Best Snooker Cue is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site we may earn an affiliate commission, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The affiliate disclosure explains which links earn a commission and how they are labelled.

Questions

Do you test products by hand?

No. We do not receive samples and we do not run a lab. Every judgement on this site is made from the retailer's listing (specifications, description, photos and, on Amazon UK, the rating count), from the price and link checks described above, and from what readers go on to buy.

Why can a product that pays you more be listed first?

Lists are ordered mainly by what real visitors clicked in the last 30 days. Where two items are otherwise similar, the one with the higher expected commission can take the earlier slot in a picks box or budget band. We would rather say so than pretend the order is neutral.

Can a maker or retailer pay to be listed?

No. Nobody has paid for a placement, nobody sends us products, and no retailer sees a page before it is published. Our only income is the affiliate commission described on the disclosure page.